


Virus

by Anonknows



Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, Half-Life, Half-Life but the AI is Self-Aware
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Based on a Tumblr Post, Benrey is a zombie but like not really???, First fic on this site so please go easy on me, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, The Frenrey may take a bit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:55:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24876538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonknows/pseuds/Anonknows
Summary: What the hell was Black Mesa going to do with a goddamn zombie virus in the first place?
Relationships: Benrey/Gordon Freeman
Comments: 20
Kudos: 177





	1. You Need This Job Freeman

**Author's Note:**

> So this was an idea I shared on Tumblr forever ago, and I offered it up as fanfiction material since, at the time, I didn't have a viable way to share it with people. People seemed to really like it so I decided to just go for it and get an account on here as means to finally get to work on this idea.

Gordon had never been the most... Social, when it came to his job. He'd show up, do whatever was expected of him, and then return home to his apartment. This cycle would constantly repeat itself... With the exception of weekends of course, but those were always dedicated to his son. Gordon never felt the need to speak to anyone unless directly spoken to, and if it wasn't something important, he tended to try and keep the conversation as brief as possible. It wasn't that he didn't like people or anything, in fact he could be quite the social butterfly when he really wanted to, it was just that most of the people who worked at Black Mesa gave off a bit of a weird, unsettling vibe. It was like they all knew something he didn't and, considering the nature of their work, that could very well be the truth.  


Now, Gordon wasn't an idiot, hell he was an MIT graduate, he knew Black Mesa was up to some seriously shady shit. The confidentiality agreement he had been forced to sign before being employed was the first red flag, and years of being sent into radioactive chambers filled with suspicious gases and even more suspicious machines that seemed to do nothing but sputter and shoot sparks had only added fuel onto the suspicion fire. It certainly didn't help that he had to go through a full body medical examination before returning home each day. It was clear to Gordon that Black Mesa was up to SOMETHING, but as for what that something was, he had no clue, and to be fairly honest, he was starting to not even care. The job paid his bills and kept his kid fed, so who was he to bite the hand that feeds? Whenever Gordon started to question the lab's motives, he would silently remind himself that, sketchy or not, he needed this job.  


Even now, as he was carefully making his way across a test chamber with a large crate while donning an HEV suit, he was whispering to himself.  


"You need this job Freeman, you need this job, can't fuck this up now..." He carefully placed the crate down.  


"Alright you're almost done in there, now we need you to- Uh... hold on a moment, something's happening back here," A voice came over the intercom. Gordon stared up at the ceiling, trying not to let his thoughts runaway from him. Just as he thought the silence of the test chamber was starting to stress him out, the voice returned. "Yeah so apparently something's happening by the cybernetics department and they need all available personnel so..."  


"Do you need me to hurry it up?"  


"No, that won't be necessary Mr. Freeman, this experiment is to be prioritized above all else, just uh... Hang in there for a bit, okay? We'll go see if they require our assistance and then we'll be right back, it won't hurt for you to stay in the chamber for a bit longer than usual so long as you have that suit on," The voice spoke once more.  


"Wait what-" Gordon cut himself off as the intercom made a sound signifying that it had been turned off. "...Great, fantastic," Gordon sighed. He moved towards the test chamber wall, leaning against it in an attempt to make himself more comfortable while he waited. Thanks to the HEV suit, it did little to actually ease his discomfort. His eyes wandered to the crate he had just carried. It hadn't been too heavy, in fact it almost felt empty. Gordon would have been lying if he had said the crate's contents hadn't piqued his curiosity. He reached towards the crate before stopping himself. No, no he couldn't let his curiosity get the better of him. The contents of the crate, much like most things at Black Mesa, were probably confidential, and he knew he'd probably get in trouble if they found out he had even considered opening the crate for a peek. "You need this job Freeman..." Gordon repeated, reaching for the crate still. "No, cut it out Gordon, you need this job," Gordon reiterated as his hands slid over the lid. "You'll regret this Freeman. you need this... Those sons of bitches!" Gordon shouted as he lifted the lid of the crate to reveal... Nothing. Just as he had suspected, he had just lugged a completely empty crate across a room for seemingly no reason.  


"M-Mr. Freeman?!" A frantic voice buzzed over the intercom, causing Gordon to let out a rather undignified yelp as he instinctively chucked the crate lid across the chamber.  


"I wasn't uh... Um... I didn't... The crate fell over, and the lid popped off, so I was just-"  


"-Mr. Freeman listen to me, you need to get out of the test chamber right now!"  


"Look, if this about the crate, I didn't-"  


"MR. FREEMAN PLEASE YOU HAVE TO GET- UGH!" The frantic voice sounded as if it were gagging on something, before it let out a blood-curdling scream that sounded inhuman. It sent chills down Gordon's spine, and he instinctively started to back up as panic started to set in.  


"W-What the hell? Hello? Anyone?! What the hell is happening out there?!" He shouted. He nearly jumped out of his skin as he felt the back of his boot hit something. He quickly turned to see he had accidentally kicked a piece of metal piping that was currently rolling towards the bright laser in the middle of the room. Hadn't he been told something about how metal reacts to the laser? Oh... Right... "Oh shit, oh fuck," Gordon ran for the test chamber doors, banging on them and screaming for help. His screams were short-lived, however, as a large explosion completely decimated the test chamber, leaving an unconscious Gordon Freeman in it's wake among a pile of debris.  


Gordon was blacking in and out, pain overtaking his entire body. He would have been blessing the existence of his HEV suit had he been in any sort of state to do so. If it hadn't been for said suit, he knew he definitely would have been killed on impact, then again, perhaps that would have been better. He felt like he was going to black out for real this time, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized the odds of him waking back up were incredibly low. Oddly enough, this thought didn't bring too much fear with it. The only thing he'd really be leaving behind was his son, and while he loved him more than anything else in the world, deep down he knew Joshua deserved better. He deserved a father who could be there for him 24/7, a father he knew would always come home safe, a better father. He had no real friends to speak of, god knows his ex-wife wanted nothing to do with him, and due to the classified nature of his job, his death would probably be swept under the rug by some sort of shady ass men in black anyway. Gordon let his body go limp with a humorless chuckle, allowing the dizziness to finally take over. He could've sworn he heard a muffled shout come from somewhere, but then again, he was probably just hallucinating. He used this same line of logic on a mirage of a golden retriever running towards him before his vision went completely black.


	2. Wake up Mr. Freeman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gordon learns about the curative powers of blue powerade. (Among other things).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be slow-moving, I can already tell.

"Ugh, what the hell...?" Gordon let out a long groan as his vision slowly came back into focus. Where was he? Didn't he die? He slowly sat up, feeling his joints pop and creak beneath him. He was resting on a couch that seemed vaguely familiar. Had he been dragged to the break room? Gordon reached up to instinctively run his fingers through his hair, only to pause when his hand actually met messy locks. He could've sworn he passed out with his HEV helmet on.  


He jumped at the sound of a loud bark to his right. He quickly turned to come face to face with by far the biggest dog he had ever seen. It's tail wagged at the eye contact, and Gordon found that the sight of just a normal, friendly golden retriever after a near death experience was surprisingly comforting. "Uh, hey there," Gordon chuckled in disbelief. He hesitantly reached out to pet the pooch, and was pleasantly surprised when the dog nudged against his hand to let him do so. The dog let out another loud bark, it's tail still steadily swishing back and forth. Maybe Gordon really had died and whatever deity that took him also gifted him a dog and Black Mesa's break room couch? He had always thought it was a pretty damn comfortable couch. In secret of course.  


Gordon's pondering was interrupted by the sound of fast running footsteps coming towards them. Gordon shot up from the couch, ignoring his sudden pounding head, and stepped protectively in front of the dog. The footsteps seemed to go on for hours, before a man finally peeked his head around the corner of the entryway.  


"Oh! He's awake!" The man shouted joyously, stepping completely into view. He was incredibly tall and a bit on the thinner side, and Gordon couldn't help but wonder what the story behind his propeller cap was. Whoever the man was, the dog clearly didn't see him as a threat, as it ran past Gordon and straight to the man, yipping excitedly. "Good boy Sunkist!" The man cooed, bending down and showering the dog in affection. Gordon just stood there, awkwardly watching the scene in bewilderment. "Oh right! S-Sorry sir, you must be confused!" The man stood back up, his dog sitting obediently by his side. 

"Understatement of the century pal," Gordon scoffed. He had long since dropped his guard. The man seemed pretty normal for the most part... Okay well maybe not normal but he didn't seem like a threat at the very least. 

"My name's Tommy!" The man introduced himself, and Gordon silently noted the man's childlike demeanor when he spoke. 

"Gordon Freeman..." Gordon nodded. "So uh... How the hell did I get here?" He asked. The man, Tommy apparently, gave him a wide grin. 

"Sunkist saved you!" Tommy reached down and gave his dog another proud pat on the head. 

"Oh, so Sunkist is-" 

"-The best dog i-in the world!" Tommy's grin grew wider somehow. Gordon couldn't help but smile at the man's innocent enthusiasm. 

"I'm sure, so what EXACTLY happened?" 

"W-Well Sunkist and I were going to visit Dr. Coomer when the lab went into lockdown, we heard a big explosion not long after and went to see what happened, and that's when Sunkist found you in some rubble Mr. Freeman!" Tommy explained. 

"Whoa whoa wait, the lab went into lockdown?" 

"Mm-hm!" 

"Was this before or after you heard the explosion?" 

"Before I think," Tommy looked down at Sunkist as if to confirm, and to Gordon's surprise, he actually nodded back at his owner. 

"Why?" 

"I'm not sure Mr. Freeman, they said something about the cybernetics department, b-but they didn't specify," Tommy shrugged. Right, the scientist who had been instructing Gordon earlier mentioned something about an incident near the cybernetics department. Then afterwards... Gordon felt his entire being shudder upon remembering the screams. 

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Gordon mumbled, staring down at the floor. He only then noticed how beat up his HEV suit was. It was no doubt a result from the explosion, which led Gordon to his next question. "Hey, not that I'm not grateful or anything, but how am I uh... Y'know, alive?" He asked. Tommy reached behind the couch and pulled out an unmarked water bottle, presenting it to Gordon as if it were some key item in some sort of RPG. "...The fuck?" 

"It's blue powerade Mr. Freeman! We m-make it fresh here! It heals all wounds!" Tommy declared. 

"I... What?" Gordon hesitantly unscrewed the cap and peered into the bottle. Yeah, no, this was not blue powerade, it was too thick, although Gordon had to admit it had a smell vaguely similar to the aforementioned sports drink. He was just about to break this news to Tommy, but found himself unable to upon meeting Tommy's happy facial expression. "Um... Right, thanks Tommy," Gordon said instead. 

"You're welcome Mr. Freeman! I-I honestly prefer soda myself, h-helps me see faster," Tommy commented offhandedly. Gordon didn't know what the actual fuck that meant, but he chose not to question it. This guy clearly had a few screws loose. He chose, instead, to direct his focus elsewhere. 

"Hey Tommy, where is everyone?" Gordon looked around and saw no one else in the break room, nor did he see anyone passing by it. He found that odd considering the hallway outside of the break room led to quite a few important areas, and as such there was normally quite a bit of foot traffic in between the two areas. Tommy just gave him a shrug. "You haven't seen anyone since they announced the lockdown?" 

"No one but you Mr. Freeman, I even checked a few other places while you were sleeping, but I couldn't find anyone," Tommy frowned a bit. What the hell was happening? 

"Huh, guess we should keep looking then, maybe we'll find someone who knows what's going on," Gordon suggested. 

"Great idea Mr. Freeman! I think w-we should look for Dr. Coomer, he should be somewhere near the locker rooms, that's where I was going to meet him!" Tommy added. 

"Dr. Coomer?" In all his years of working for Black Mesa, Gordon couldn't recall ever meeting or even hearing someone by that name. 

"Uh-huh! He helps out with the test chambers sometimes, haven't you heard of him?" Tommy asked, tilting his head to the side in an almost comical fashion. 

"Can't say I have," Now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure if he had ever heard Tommy's name before either. What department did he even work for? He'd never heard anyone mention Sunkist the goliath of a golden retriever, which he's certain SOMEONE would have brought up at some point. Was he that anti-social? 

"Come on Mr. Freeman! We don't want to keep Dr. Coomer waiting!" Tommy called out, having already left the break room, Sunkist trailing closely behind him. 

"Hey! Wait up!" Gordon ran after his new companion, unexplainable dread burrowing it's way further down into his chest.


	3. Hello Gordon!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tubes don't make the greatest hiding places.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why but Bubby is the most difficult character for me to write for some reason. Also I'm only just now noticing how poorly formatted these chapters are, specifically the lack of indentations between paragraphs. I will write each chapter, complete with indentations, and yet when I post it, it always seems to mess up somehow. I am hoping it's less of a technical error and more of an error regarding my lack of experience on this site, that way something can be done about it. Thank you for your tolerance. (Edit: I fixed the paragraphs!... I think)

"Tommy, are you sure you know where you're going?" Gordon sighed. He had been following Tommy and his loyal canine companion for what felt like hours now, and last he checked, the locker rooms were normally a five minute walk from the break room, at most.  


"Of course I do Mr. Freeman! B-But something weird is g-going on, so I'm following Sunkist," Tommy explained.  


"Uh... What?" Gordon glanced down towards the golden retriever at Tommy's side, surprised to see that Sunkist was indeed nudging Tommy's hand in different directions with his nose, guiding the spirited young man.  


"I-I have a weird feeling that something bad is happening, S-Sunkist guides me whenever I get too anxious," Tommy explained again.  


"Again, what? No offense Tommy but I think Sunkist is getting us lost," Gordon frowned.  


"I trust Sunkist, if he's having us take the long way, then there's probably a good reason for it!" Gordon gave up on questioning Tommy's judgement. He felt like it would just get him nowhere in the end.  


"WILL YOU JUST GET ME OUT OF THIS DAMN THING?!" An unfamiliar voice shouted to their left. Both Gordon and Tommy turned to see two older gentlemen arguing with each other. One had his, surprisingly buff, arms crossed with an annoyed look on his face, while the other man... Was floating in a tube of some kind?  


"Now now, you could ask a little nicer, I am doing you a favor, it's your fault for hiding there in the first place!" The buff man huffed.  


"The dead are walking, excuse me for panicking!" The other man let out a muffled growl.  


"Dr. Coomer!" Tommy suddenly shouted with a wide smile on his face. The buff man turned and shot Tommy a wide smile of his own in return.  


"Ah! Hello Tommy! It's good to see a friendly face amongst all this chaos!" He called out in a warm tone. THAT was Dr. Coomer?! Tommy ran into the room without any further hesitation, leaving Gordon to awkwardly trail after him.  


"I thought you were w-waiting in the locker room!"  


"Ah, yes, sorry about that, I meant to wait for you, but then I'm afraid-"  


"-Everything went to hell," The man stuck in the tube mumbled. How was he even speaking in a fluid filled tube?  


"Er... Yes," Dr. Coomer sighed, straightening his tie. Dr. Coomer spared Gordon a curious glance. "Oh, who's your companion Tommy?" He asked.  


"Oh yeah! Introduce yourself Mr. Freeman!" Tommy pushed Gordon forward a bit, almost making him stumble.  


"I'm uh... Gordon, Gordon Freeman," Gordon was hesitant to hold his hand out for the other man to shake, but was unable to retract his hand before the man gripped it with his own. Ow, okay so those arms weren't for show, noted.  


"Hello Gordon! My name is Dr. Coomer! It's good to see a friendly face amongst all this chaos!"  


"Um yeah, you said that already-"  


"-Hey this is nice and all, but if no one opens this thing in the next five seconds I'm going to hurt someone," The man in the tube spoke up again.  


"Calm down, I was just getting to that!" Dr. Coomer turned towards the man to give him one last annoyed pout before turning to a nearby control panel. Gordon watched as the strange fluid drained from the tube, allowing the glass door to swing open. The older man stepped out of the tube with a scowl, nothing dripping from or staining his clothes to indicate he was ever in the tube at all. His hateful gaze bore into Gordon.  


"Before you ask, I don't need to tell you my name, so I-" Dr. Coomer walked over to the man and 'gently' elbowed him in the ribs. Gordon winced just thinking about it. "Ugh fine... MmmmBubby," The man reluctantly surrendered.  


"...Bubby?"  


"Yeah?"  


"...Really?"  


"Did I stutter?" Bubby sneered. There was no way that was his actual name, Gordon refused to believe it. He found it a bit humorous that, out of all the weirdness he's had to put up with so far, someone named Bubby was where he drew the line.  


"Are you alright Gordon? What happened to your HEV suit?" Dr. Coomer's concerned voice let Gordon put aside his disbelief for a moment. He glanced down at the dented HEV suit again, realizing he kinda looked like he had been hit by a freight truck. Although considering what ACTUALLY happened, that wasn't too far off base.  


"There was an... Accident in one of the test chambers," Gordon replied. He was hesitant to reveal that he may or may not have been the cause of the explosion earlier. He had been the one to stumble over that metal pipe.  


"Accident? Aw hell, more we have to worry about?" Bubby chimed in.  


"Wait, you mean you didn't hear it?" Gordon asked.  


"I'm afraid we didn't, we were a bit preoccupied," Dr. Coomer shrugged.  


"Preoccupied?! Preoccupied with what?! An entire test chamber fucking explodes and neither of you heard it?!" Gordon's old friend disbelief had decided to pay him yet another visit.  


"What do you think genius?" Bubby rolled his eyes.  


"Professor Bubby... I don't think he knows..." Dr. Coomer said in a hushed tone. Bubby's grimace had somehow amplified itself tenfold, opening his mouth as if to shout at Dr. Coomer, only to be interrupted by Gordon before he even got the chance.  


"Know what?" He asked. Dr. Coomer's eyes widened, his worst fears being confirmed.  


"Tommy, did you not tell him?"  


"Tell him w-what?"  


"Oh dear, Tommy, you don't know either?" Dr. Coomer seemed even more fearful than before.  


"Where the hell have you two been?" Bubby laughed.  


"Professor Bubby! This is serious!" Dr. Coomer scolded him.  


"...Doctor," Bubby mumbled.  


"...Professor."  


"Doctor."  


"Professor."  


"DOCTOR GOD DAMNIT!" Bubby growled.  


"CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS GOING ON AROUND HERE?!" Gordon snapped. His patience had finally ran out. All three men, as well as Sunkist, turned to Gordon with matching looks of shock. Shit, he hadn't meant to scream like that. "Sorry I-"  


"-GORDON! LOOK OUT!" Dr. Coomer shouted.  


"Hm?" Gordon only just noticed that the scientists, and the canine, weren't actually looking at him, but at something just behind him. He quickly turned to come face to face with a sight that made his stomach churn. What looked like a bloated man's corpse wearing a lab coat lunged at him, his gaping maw dripping some bizarre colored substance burning a horrifying image into Gordon's brain to haunt him for years. He was frozen in fear, his senses filled with scarring imagery and the smell of rotting flesh. He barely registered a fist flying into the creature's 'face' and going straight through it's skull, effectively ending it's revolting existence. Gordon, still running on pure adrenaline, regained movement in his legs. He then proceeded to use said regained movement to run to the corner of the room and aggressively eject the remnants of whatever he had eaten during his lunch break.  


"Gordon Freeman, welcome to the goddamn apocalypse," Bubby gave one last humorless chuckle before Gordon felt himself black out once again.


	4. Try to Survive Mr. Freeman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gordon Freeman finally gets his shit together... Sort of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure if I like this chapter. I have no idea how to write G-man... Also, just a random note, my favorite spelling error I found while proof reading was instead of typing "grayer than usual" I accidentally typed "gayer than usual." This led to a good ten minutes of childish giggling that I only regret a little bit.

"What... What the fuck?" Gordon mumbled. His vision was out of focus when he came to. He glanced around the room to find everything seemed... Out of place for lack of a better word. It was as if time had slowed to a standstill, and the blurry shapes around him looked a tad grayer than usual. He reached up towards his face to, hopefully, rub the sleep out of his eyes, only to realize his glasses were missing. He sat up and felt around the floor in a panic, freezing at the sound of a cold chuckle directly in front of him.  


"Looking for these?" The voice said. Gordon glanced up to see a tall, blurry figure. He didn't even need to see it's features to know it was smirking at him in a condescending manner. The figure was holding out a shape that Gordon immediately recognized as his glasses. He snatched them from the figure's hand, putting them on and standing up straight as a means to appear more intimidating. Gordon knew it was a lost cause the moment he actually got a good look at the figure. The figure was that of a man in a suit, his much too pale skin and somehow glassy, yet piercing, gaze sending a fearful shudder down Gordon's spine.  


"T-The fuck's your problem?!" Gordon shouted, his voice cracking.  


"Excuse me?" Gordon immediately regretted his outburst. In his defense, he hadn't actually meant to voice that thought out loud, it had just sorta slipped out in his panicked state.  


"Uh stay back!" Gordon shouted again, backing himself up against the wall. He was mentally screaming at himself for practically cornering himself.  


"Calm down Mr. Freeman, I do not intend to harm you... For now, anyway," The man chuckled, his emotionless voice and deadpan demeanor only serving to terrify Gordon more.  


"What the hell do you want then?!"  


"For now I just want you to listen Mr. Freeman, you can do that for me, yes?" The man said with an air of confidence. Gordon held back another flurry of choice words he had been saving for the man, admittedly afraid of what the consequences may be. The man nodded to himself, accepting Gordon's silence as an invitation to continue. "You, as well as your new... Let's call them acquaintances shall we? Are about to suffer quite a bit thanks to... Someone's mistake," The man hummed.  


"Mistake? What happened?!" Gordon asked frantically.  


"I cannot say, however I can tell you it has to do with a certain... Experiment of Black Mesa's, I really can't say much more, confidentiality, you understand..."  


"If you can't talk about it then why bring it up at all?"  


"Because you will have a very important role to fill in the midst of all this, and I feel that you should at least be aware of that," The man explained.  


"Wow, dude, could you be anymore cryptic?"  


"I imagine so..." The man trailed off. Great. Gordon began to take notice of the room around them shifting, changing. It was seemingly gaining it's color back. "Ah, I suppose I should be leaving, before I go, I must ask that you keep a close eye on my progeny, I have ensured he has his companion with him at all times, but I fear that may not be enough," The man's visage began fading away, disappearing completely in the blink of an eye, leaving Gordon more baffled than he had already been.  


"What was-"  


"-Do you think he's o-okay?"  


"We can only hope so Tommy!"  


"Who cares? He'd just slow us down anyway..."  


"Now that's not very nice Bubby, you should be more polite to people you've just met!"  


"CORPSES ARE WALKING!"  


"That's still no excuse to be rude!" Where were those voices coming from? They sounded familiar but... Where had Gordon heard them? His vision started to spin again, and he found himself back onto the cold floor he had woken up on, his head pounding. He winced, squeezing his eyes shut in pain.  


"Hey! Dr. Coomer! Mr. Freeman's waking up!" An excited voice shrieked with glee.  


"Be quiet you idiot! We're not exactly safe here!" A grumpier one hushed the other. Right... Tommy and Bubby.  


"Ah! That's excellent news! Hopefully this means we can start moving again!" A cheerful voice laughed. Gordon's brain finally registered it as Dr. Coomer's. What happened? Had that been a dream? Had his conversation with the intimidating man been some twisted nightmare his distressed mind had concocted for him? His pondering was cut short by something wet being dragged across his face. He quickly opened his eyes to see the comforting image of a friendly, albeit fucking HUGE, golden retriever, panting and wagging it's tail once it saw that it's assault of licks had successfully woken the man up.  


"Hey there Sunkist," Gordon found himself mumbling. He reached up and lazily pet Sunkist, the feel of his soft fur between his fingers helping to defog his mind a bit. He carefully sat up, his nausea increasing as he did so. He felt Tommy and Dr. Coomer gently place their hands on his back, helping him sit up.  


"Careful now Gordon! You'll hurt yourself if you don't pace yourself!" Dr. Coomer said, concern seeping through his ever upbeat tone.  


"I'm fine Dr. Coomer," Gordon attempted to reassure the older man. He adjusted himself in a position to stand up, gladly accepting both Tommy and Dr. Coomer's help as he finally managed to stand upright.  


"I'm so glad you're okay Mr. Freeman! That's the second time you've p-passed out!" Tommy smiled. Huh, he supposed it was. Now if only he could remember what it was that knocked him out this time...  


"Finally! Any longer and we would've left without you! Having too many people in a group can get dangerous in this kind of scenario!" Bubby groaned. Despite not really be able to see his eyes through his oddly reflective glasses, it was apparent just by his tone of voice that he had probably just performed the most dramatic eye roll of all time. 

"This kind of scenario?" Gordon paused at Bubby's bizarre phrasing. 

"Apocalypse scenarios dumbass, there's always that one group of people who think they'll be just fine as long as they stick together and help whoever they can find, then they always end up with too many people to feed and one asshole who keeps doing the sketchiest shit but somehow doesn't get caught until half the original group is already dead!" Gordon had completely tuned out the rest of Bubby's rant. Apocalypse scenario? Oh shit... OH SHIT THAT'S RIGHT. Gordon started to feel lightheaded again. He leaned on the wall, trying to keep himself grounded. The others took notice. Sunkist padded over to Gordon and nudged his leg with a whimper. 

"I'm uh... I'm okay Sunkist, don't worry boy," Gordon lied. Less to Sunkist and more to himself. 

"A-Are you really alright Mr. Freeman?" Tommy asked, also stepping a bit closer to the clearly distressed man. Gordon had prepared himself to lie again, but he stopped himself, staring at the floor for a bit before taking a deep breath and standing up straight again. 

"Y'know what Tommy? No, I'm not alright, I haven't been alright since that stupid explosion, and odds are, I'm not going to be alright anytime soon, but passing out some more isn't going to get us anywhere, Dr. Coomer, Bubby, you two seem to know the most about what's going on, care to fill the rest of us in?" Gordon sighed. Both Bubby and Dr. Coomer seemed taken aback by Gordon's sudden confidence, but cleared their throats in preparation nonetheless. 

"Well we don't know how, but some idiot released an airborne virus into the lab that spread like hellfire," Bubby began. 

"Where the hell did it come from?" Gordon asked. 

"We're not too sure, but we have our suspicions..." Dr. Coomer glanced towards the Black Mesa logo stamped on a nearby piece of machinery, before quickly looking away. 

"We got an emergency alert regarding some sort of 'released contaminant,' then the next thing we know, people are turning into goddamn zombies left and right!" Bubby laughed incredulously as he recounted his tale. 

"Bubby got scared and ran off, I ran after him and found him hiding in his old tube and well... Now we're here," Dr. Coomer shot a teasing smirk towards Bubby, who merely crossed his arms in an indignant fashion. 

"I... Panicked okay?" He admitted. Well that didn't fill in quite as many gaps as Gordon had hoped. At least he had a bit of a better idea of what happened to send everything spiralling into madness. Wait... So when he heard screaming over the intercom... That... Oh god. "People were falling all over the place only to stand back up as monsters, the hell was I supposed to do? Wait and see if they tried to eat my brains like in cartoons?" Bubby huffed. Gordon tried his best to maintain his newfound confidence. Deep breaths Freeman, deep breaths. Take a moment to assess the situation. You're trapped in a lab with a dangerous zombie-like virus and a bunch of zombie-like creatures, on the bright side, since the lab had immediately gone on lockdown, the odds of the virus getting out were slim, unfortunately, that also meant the odds of him or the others getting out were just as slim. What could they do about their situation? Look for a way out maybe? No, Black Mesa had always been very meticulous with their lockdown protocols, a way out was less than an impossibility. What else was there? 

"How long do you think we've been on lockdown?" Gordon asked, trying to confirm another train of thought. 

"Who knows? A few hours, at the most," Bubby shrugged. Huh, so not enough time for military intervention... Yet. Once a day or two passes, with no noticeable activity from the lab, the military was sure to take notice, hell maybe they'd send people to check the place out... That could be their chance... 

"This is going to seem crazy but, what if we try to wait it out?" Gordon suggested. 

"Wait what out? The virus?" Bubby laughed. 

"No I mean, what if we wait for military intervention? They're sure to come once they realize Black Mesa's gone silent, right?" 

"Hm, true, the U.S. military has been keeping a close eye on Black Mesa for years now, they'd definitely notice after awhile," Dr. Coomer confirmed. 

"Great, then let's just do that!" Gordon grinned, happy to have finally gotten SOMETHING straightened out in this whole mess. 

"Do what Mr. Freeman?" 

"Survive Tommy, we're going to fight our asses off until the military gets here, and survive!" Gordon's grin grew wider. 

"That's great and all, but have you ever shot anything in your entire life?" Bubby asked. 

"Fuck no!" Gordon's grin refused to leave his face.


	5. Look out for the Hoard Gordon!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The newly established "Science Team" decide to search for a safe place to wait for the military, only to come across something, or someone, else in the process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Darn it, I didn't mean to but I think I accidentally made this chapter super short. Didn't mean to, I just really wanted to get to introducing Benrey. My apologies, I will work hard to ensure the next chapter is not so short, it can just get hard to tell when you're actually writing. Thank you for your tolerance, patience, and of course, thank you for reading.

He couldn't believe how well this was going so far. They had been walking for a grand total of an hour, and had somehow not come across another zombie in that time. Gordon was relieved of course, but at the same time, it was a bit unnerving to know there were more abominations where that first one had come from, and yet they hadn't seen a single one. Gordon definitely wasn't letting his guard down anytime soon, that's for sure. He completely agreed with the others that they needed to find somewhere safer to wait out the military, but he hadn't realized at the time how nerve-racking the experience of searching for one would actually be. He was just silently grateful Bubby supplied them with pistols, as there had apparently been ones hidden in the lab, quote, "just in case." Gordon didn't ask him to elaborate.  


Gordon glanced behind him to see how the other members of "The Science Team," a name Dr. Coomer had excitedly come up with before they set out, were doing. Tommy had volunteered to stay towards the back of the group, arguing that Sunkist could trail behind him and bark to warn them of anything sneaking up on them from the rear. He seemed to be doing just fine keeping up with the rest of them, the only slightly alarming thing being the way he held his pistol. He apparently had decided at some point that the most comfortable way to hold it, was by always aiming it at someone. If it had been someone a bit more... Careful, it probably wouldn't have worried Gordon as much as it was, but this was Tommy. The man had a very childlike disposition, and there was something about someone so seemingly innocent holding a pistol like he was prepared to shoot anyone, friend or foe, that kind of creeped Gordon out. He carefully pushed these feelings to the back of his mind, deciding that, if Tommy were to do something that could accidentally end up hurting himself or the other members of their strange group, his incredibly helpful pooch would hopefully intervene. He hated to admit it, but Sunkist could possibly end up being the most dependable member of The Science Team. Gordon shifted his focus over to Bubby, who had the unfortunate honor of standing directly in front of Tommy, meaning he was the one currently caught in his line of fire. Bubby had an indifferent look on his face however, as if he were trying to appear confident to the others. This "strong act" of his wasn't fooling Gordon though, as the shaking in the man's legs had become quite apparent over time. There was also his jumpy reactions to every little sound they heard, those also served to sell him out. The man seemed confident in his knowledge and skill set, but it seemed that same confidence came with a quick to panic price tag. He was keeping up with the group though, so Gordon supposed he couldn't complain about him too much, even if he did seem rather rude. Besides, it was kind of a relief to see someone else reacting to this sort of situation like a normal human being. Speaking of normal, Gordon's eyes trailed over to a man whose reactions were the exact opposite of normal, Dr. Coomer. The man was consistently upbeat, even after punching through the rotting skull of one of those... things. It was more than a bit freaky. Other than his unsettling positive tone, Gordon didn't actually mind Dr. Coomer all that much. He was certainly much nicer than Bubby, and he seemed to know a good amount of information about Black Mesa, certainly making it easier to traverse this twisted labyrinth of a lab. While most scientists only worked in certain departments of Black Mesa, Dr. Coomer had explained that he had worked at Black Mesa for so long, he'd been to almost every part of the lab, making him an invaluable member of the team. He seemed to be doing very well in keeping up, then again, he supposed he shouldn't be too surprised. Dr. Coomer was apparently the epitome of good physical health, as evidenced by the fact that he literally punched a zombie's brains out. Gordon made a mental note not to ever make the man angry, god only knows how hard the man could hit when actually provoked.  


Gordon was happy to see everyone still full of energy, but on the other hand, he felt he was almost running on empty himself. He suspected it had something to do with the fact that, unlike his lab coat wearing associates, he was wearing a rather dented, and rather heavy, HEV suit. Gordon glanced up ahead to see the entrance of some sort of locker room. He let out a quiet sigh, pausing.  


"Is something wrong Gordon?" Dr. Coomer asked, the others stopping as well.  


"Do you guys mind if we stop for a breather real quick? This suit is really fucking heavy," Gordon motioned towards the locker room entrance he had spotted. They looked at each other for a bit to gauge each other's feelings towards Gordon's suggestion.  


"I-I'm fine with it," Tommy shrugged.  


"As am I! It'd be nice to take a moment to gather our bearings anyways!" Dr. Coomer nodded.  


"I guess we can, if only so we don't end up having to drag your tired ass around," Bubby frowned, secretly relieved at the prospect of getting to sit down and calm down a bit before continuing their search. Gordon nodded and they began walking towards the locker room.  


"Who knows? Maybe we can make this locker room into our safe house!" Dr. Coomer suggested with a wide grin.  


"I'd prefer somewhere that doesn't have an automatic door, one we can actually KEEP closed," Bubby sighed. Gordon chuckled lightly at the two scientist's banter. They stepped in front of the door, all four of them sucking in harsh breaths at the sight of a huge hoard of rotting, drooling, groaning monstrosities. Just their luck, all of them immediately took notice of the four frozen men and baffled pooch standing in the doorway, lunging almost in sync, barreling over each other to try and attack them. The movement snapped them out of their dazed states, aiming their pistols and shooting into the crowd. Tommy did so with alarming success, each of his rounds resulting in a perfect head shot. Sunkist weaved his way between the zombies legs, trying to distract them from the group so they had more openings to shoot. Bubby seemed to be doing okay, hitting most of his shots but screaming the entire time in a way that was almost louder than the groans of the undead freaks themselves. No, correction, it was definitely louder. As for Dr. Coomer, the small pistol actually seemed to frustrate him. He was hitting every single one of his shots, but his rate of fire was much slower than the others. Gordon was... Well... Gordon was trying his best. He knew his inexperience was probably a major factor in his inability to hit anything unless it were directly in front of him, but it was more than that. This... This whole situation was just so surreal, it didn't seem real, it was like he was viewing everything from someone else's eyes, and that someone else was absolute shit at aiming. Gordon's anxiety only increased upon realizing their ammo was dwindling fast. They hadn't expected to come across such a large hoard so soon, and as such, they hadn't thought to look for more. Gordon's body froze, one bullet left. The telltale signs of clicks echoing off the walls of the locker room told Gordon all he needed to know. The others were completely out of ammo, Gordon had one bullet, and they had barely thinned out the hoard. In short, they were fucked. Just as that thought had crossed Gordon's mind, what looked to be a ball of electricity flew past Gordon's shoulder, bouncing off the locker room walls and taking out the rest of the hoard, leaving Sunkist standing in the middle of all the carnage, looking just as confused as the rest of them. Gordon turned to where the ball of light had come from, not actually sure what it was he was seeing. One of those THINGS was standing behind them, except this one looked... different. No rotted flesh as far as Gordon could tell, but it definitely didn't look human. It's skin had taken on a light gray tint, it's eyes an unearthly yellow, and neon colored drool was slowly running down it's face much like with the other zombies they had come across. It had on a Black Mesa security uniform, helmet and all, and it was... grinning at them with serrated teeth.  


"Yooo, Benrey uh... ex-machina!" The thing laughed, more drool dripping from it's sickening grin. Gordon hadn't heard the excited shout of "Benrey!" from Tommy, nor had he heard Bubby or Dr. Coomer greet the thing. He only heard his pistol fire as he instinctively shot the thing straight through the chest. He had hoped to stun it long enough for him to make a run for it, but the thing didn't react to the bullet at all. It paused for a moment, glancing down at where Gordon had shot it, looking back up at the man with a frown on it's face. "Wow that uh... That was pretty fuckin' rude bro, wasn't gonna say anything since it looks like you're Tommy's friend and all but uh... I'm gonna have to see your passport," The thing spoke. Gordon just stared at the thing incredulously, his jaw dropping open in disbelief. He slowly felt his voice come back to him.  


"My fucking what?!"


	6. Scared Gordon?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gordon silently wishes he could punch these creatures through the skull as flawlessly as Dr. Coomer could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter sucked all the energy out of me and I am not entirely sure as to why that is. Also, I think I figured out how to fix the paragraph issue! (My apologies for taking as long as I did getting this chapter out.)

"Okay so let me get this straight, you three know this abomination?!" Gordon huffed. The adrenaline from the earlier hoard was wearing off at this point, thus explaining why Gordon was currently hunched over one of the locker room benches, making a conscious effort to ignore the copious amounts of gore beneath his feet. Thankfully Sunkist seemed to be moving the corpses out of the room slowly but surely. He wished he could get it done faster, but hey, Sunkist was a dog apparently equipped with the ability to efficiently move bodies, that beat being able to roll over any day.  


"If by uh... Abomi... Ab... Whatever, you mean epic gamer, then yeah, these three are my bros," The... Thing chuckled.  


"I wasn't talking to you asshole!"  


"O-Of course we know him Mr. Freeman! Benrey is a valued Black Mesa e-employee!" Tommy spoke up.  


"And his valued best bro!" The thing smirked towards Tommy.  


"That t-too!" Tommy returned the smirk.  


"Gordon, Benrey is a security guard here at Black Mesa, he's in charge of keeping people safe and keeping danger out!" Dr. Coomer explained... Unnecessarily.  


"Thanks Dr. Coomer, I know what a security guard is, so this thing is supposed to be a security guard... Really?" Gordon's sigh somehow gained even more exasperation this time around.  


"Heyyyy broooo, I got a uh... I got a name, you don't have to keep calling me a thing or whatever it is-"  


"-Still. Not. Fucking. Talking. To. You." Gordon growled through gritted teeth. 

"Mm-hm! Benrey's been working here for a real long time Mr. Freeman! H-Haven't you seen him around? He's not assigned to any one area so he kinda just wanders around wherever he's needed..." No, Gordon was pretty sure he would've remembered this guy if he had seen him before. 

"Did he always look like that?" Gordon asked. 

"Hot you mean?" The thing interrupted again. Rather than dignify that with another outburst, Gordon just flipped it off without even looking in the thing's direction. 

"No actually... A-Are you okay Benrey? You don't look so good..." Tommy glanced over at Benrey with concern written all over his face. He had only just noticed his friend's current state it seemed. 

"Nah I'm fine bro, all good, 10/10 verified epic, just uh... Got into some trouble when that weird smoke got everywhere, it was totally cringe," The thing "explained." 

"The hell did that stuff do to you? You look like shit," Bubby chuckled. 

"I dunno, just kinda... Felt weird..." 

"Weird how Benrey?" Dr. Coomer chose to chime in. All three of them seemed to hold some level of concern for the thing. Even Sunkist was bumping against it's calf now, a worried whimper echoing through the locker room. 

"Oh hey there pog dog, don't worry man, I'm okay, that smoke just burned my lungs a bit, shit hurted," It said as it bent down at a weird angle, patting Sunkist on the head the way a five-year-old would. Sunkist didn't seem to mind, gently leaning into the awkward pats. 

"That doesn't sound good..." Tommy frowned. 

"Nah it's chill, I mean, weird zombie smoke is supposed to burn right?" 

"I hate to say it Benrey, but the rest of us felt fine after inhaling the smoke..." Dr. Coomer sighed. Gordon's shoulders tensed. He hadn't thought about that. They all had to have inhaled the smoke at some point, what made them different from everyone else who inhaled the same smoke and were changed into these monsters? As if reading his mind, Dr. Coomer chose to address that question. "Personally, my immune system fights just as hard as I do, so I'm sure that's why I'm fine!" Did that make sense? Not at all. Was Gordon going to ask Dr. Coomer to explain what the hell he meant by that? Probably not. 

"Makes sense," The thing hummed. No, no it doesn't. 

"I don't think Bubby can get sick," Dr. Coomer contemplated. 

"Nope, when they grew me they gave me the ultimate immune system," Bubby bragged. Grew? The fuck? Who were these people? 

"And Tommy?" The thing asked. 

"I take these supplements with my soda!" Tommy reached into his lab coat and pulled out a small pill bottle tagged "experimental." 

"Where'd you get those Tommy?" Dr. Coomer seemed fascinated with the bottle, examining it as closely as he could without actually holding it. 

"I've had them since I was a kid! I d-don't know how but it just r-refills itself sometimes... I don't remember who gave them to me either..." Gordon was NOT okay with the chill that went down his spine at that. 

"What about Mr. Grumpy Mcnopassport over there?" The thing grinned towards Gordon. He just narrowed his eyes at the suspicious creature in response. 

"A-Aren't you going to answer Benrey Mr. Freeman?" Tommy frowned again. Gordon let out a long sigh. 

"I don't know, the HEV suit protected me maybe?" Gordon legitimately had no idea. The HEV suit actually wasn't a bad guess, but his helmet had been left in the rubble of that testing chamber, so by all means, he should've shifted into a monster by now. 

"Huh... Weeeeeeird," The thing mumbled. It continued to stare blankly at Gordon, as if it were thinking deeply about something. As for what that "something" was, Gordon could only guess. 

"S-So what happened after you breathed in the smoke Benrey?" Tommy asked again. 

"..." 

"Benrey?" 

"Whuh?" 

"W-What happened with the smoke?" 

"Oh yeah, chest felt all toasty or whatever, passed out, woke up, dead people everywhere, found a weapon, was wandering around looking to see if anyone else survived, then I found I found you dudes and saved your asses," It explained

"Thank you for that by the way Benrey! Where did you get such a powerful weapon?" Dr. Coomer asked. 

"Found it," The thing shrugged nonchalantly. Tommy, Dr. Coomer, and Bubby all nodded in sync, as if that was an acceptable answer... Which is wasn't. Not for Gordon at least. "Sooo what have you dudes been up to?" 

"W-We've teamed up with Mr. Freeman to survive! We were looking for a safe place to w-wait out the military!" Tommy replied. 

"Uh... What? The military?" 

"Gordon had the brilliant plan of waiting for the inevitable military rescue in store for us! The military is bound to take notice eventually, don't you think?" Dr. Coomer shot a bright smile towards Gordon, but he didn't really acknowledge it. Gordon was too distracted by the bizarre look the lucid monster was giving him. There was something strange in those dead eyes of theirs... Pity perhaps? 

"Yeah... Hm... So I'm guessing this place won't work as a safe house?" The thing's demeanor shifted back to it's usual calm. 

"We weren't even considering it, dumbass over here got tired and suggested we take a breather here," Bubby chuckled as he vaguely gestured towards Gordon. 

"What the hell man?! Don't pin the blame on me! You three agreed!" Gordon growled, frustration fueling him through another outburst. 

"Now now Gordon, there's no need to get angry, Bubby is simply trying to explain how we found our way here," Dr. Coomer attempted to calm the heavily armored man to... Some success. Gordon was still pretty pissed, but he forced himself to keep quiet for the sake of his mental state. He still couldn't believe they were treating this thing like a normal person. The thing continued to stare holes into him. 

"Well uhhhh it's safe now, if you still wanna... Wanna rest a bit..." It suggested. Gordon finally met the thing's gaze, suppressing a shiver at the nothingness in it's pupils. 

"Thanks but no thanks, who's to say the place couldn't be swarmed again?" The thing's frown grew deeper at Gordon's response, but it seemed oddly happy now that Gordon was talking to it if the sparkle in it's cold, dead eyes was anything to go by. 

"Awww is the little uh... Little baby scared? Scared the monsters will get ya? Huh? Ya scared Gordon?" The thing teased, flashing it's teeth in a wide smirk. There was some level of discomfort that took over Gordon upon realizing the thing had picked up on his name. 

"Shut the fuck-" 

"-Lucky your ol' pal Benrey is here, lucky he's here to protect the scared baby man, oh I'll protect the rest of you guys too," The thing interrupted.

"You'd do that Benrey?!" Tommy gasped. 

"Yeah man, anything to keep my bros safe, protect the boys..." The thing seemed to have a habit of trailing off mid-sentence. 

"That sounds wonderful Benrey!" Dr. Coomer agreed. 

"Whoa, hold on a second guys, do you seriously trust this... Thing?!" Gordon was very much against this, and he wasn't afraid to hide it. 

"Thing? His name is Benrey Mr. Freeman! And of course I trust him, h-he's my friend after all!" 

"Tommy, I get that he's your friend or whatever but I-" 

"We could always put it to a vote," Bubby suggested. 

"What? Hell no! You'll just-" 

"-Good thinking Bubby! All in favor of allowing Benrey to guard us for a bit, say I!" Dr. Coomer exclaimed. Gordon watched in disbelief as the other three scientists and the thing each raised their hands and shouted equally enthusiastic agreements. Even Sunkist let out a yip. "All opposed?" Dr. Coomer asked. Gordon went to raise his hand, stopped himself, then just slumped in defeat. 

"What would even be the point?" He mumbled, ignoring yet another glance in his direction from the thing. 

"Then it looks like we'll be staying here for now! Thanks again Benrey!" 

"Hey man, guarding stuff is my job," The thing shrugged yet again. Sunkist padded over to Tommy and gently tugged on his pant leg to get his attention. 

"W-What is it Sunkist?" Sunkist padded over to the back of the room and sat next to the hall that led deeper into the locker room. "Sunkist wants us to explore the locker room some more," Tommy explained. 

"Ah, smart, there could be something of use to us!" Dr. Coomer grabbed Bubby's arm and dragged him over to the pooch, much to the other scientist's dismay. Gordon stayed put on the bench, holding his head in his hands. 

"Aren't you coming too Mr. Freeman?" Tommy turned to face the man. 

"You guys go on ahead, I think I'll sit here and try to get rid of this headache," Gordon groaned. This didn't seem to quell Tommy's concern any, if anything it seemed to make it worse. He seemed to get ready to voice said concern, when the thing stopped him in his tracks. 

"Hey don't worry Tommy, I'll watch over cringe crybaby man for you, don't gotta worry," It assured the concerned man. Gordon went to object, only to be surprised by the immediate acceptance from Tommy. He turned and walked further into the locker room with Dr. Coomer and Bubby, Sunkist leading the three men. Gordon shook his head and stared down at the floor. admittedly jumping a little once the thing plopped down next to him, a little... No, much too close for comfort. 

"Uhhhh you good man?" It asked. Gordon flipped it off without taking his eyes off of the floor. "That's uh... kinda rude my dude, tryin' to make sure you're not like... dying or whatever, tryin' to be civil n' shit, but hey, guess I shouldn't expect much from someone who doesn't even have their passport," It mumbled. 

"Dude, what the actual FUCK does that mean?!" Gordon whipped his head around to face the thing, finally snapping. The thing's small smirk from finally being acknowledged went unnoticed. 

"Your passport bro, I'm a security guard, gotta make sure everyone's where they're supposed to be, if you don't have a passport, then you're not supposed to be here," It explained. 

"Okay but like... I get that you're a security guard somehow, I get that, but who the hell just carries their passport around with them on a daily basis?" 

"It's company policy..." 

"Since when?!" 

"Since now cringe man." 

"Okay A, that's bullshit, B, pretty sure company policy goes right out the window during a literal apocalypse!" 

"Nah man, company policy is all we got now, gotta uh...Gotta follow all the protocols..." 

"Dude, fuck off," Gordon shook his head. 

"Can't, told Tommy I'd look after you so you don't hurt yourself if you have another tantrum, remember?" The thing reached over to poke Gordon, only to be stopped as Gordon reached up and tightly grasped it's wrist, glaring at the thing. 

"I said fuck off, I'm a grown ass man, I don't need someone to watch me," He growled, releasing the thing's wrist. 

"Grown or not, you don't have any bullets for that gun of yours, cringe baby ran out of pew pew, if those things get in, you're kinda fucked," The thing took the chance to quickly poke the side of Gordon's face anyway with it's newly freed hand. Gordon turned his entire body around to face the thing, his eyes full of rage. He tightly grasped both of it's shoulders. 

"Fuck. Off. Benrey." He managed to growl out between gritted teeth. Benrey had the audacity to look smug for a moment, getting up and letting out a quiet chuckle. 

"Alright man, I'll be standing by the door then in case something tries to get in," Benrey turned and walked towards the door, leaving Gordon a bit puzzled. Why had Benrey- Oh. Oh god damnit.


	7. Chill Gordon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey bro, what if I told you I could calm you down by spitting in your mouth? Ha ha just kidding... Unless?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking forever to get another chapter out. My sense of time is pretty skewed right now for obvious reasons, I honestly didn't realize so many days had passed. Anyway, this chapter has kinda a gross implication. I was trying to think of how Benrey's sweet voice would work if he was a sort of zombie and boy did my brain decide on something frankly kinda disgusting but hey, it works, pardon the grossness.

"I SAID DON"T TOUCH THAT!" 

"Oh! Sorry Bubby! I thought you meant not to touch this!" 

"DON'T TOUCH THAT EITHER DR. COOMER!" 

"Well it's hardly my fault they put such dangerous machinery in the locker room of all places..." 

"All of this i-is mechanically necessary Dr. Coomer, and it's all up t-to code!" Okay what the hell were those three doing back there? Tommy had said they were just going to check the place out, but instead it sounded as if they were about to blow the place up. Gordon could only hope Sunkist would stop them if worst came to worst. He scoffed at the absurd idea that he was depending on a dog to keep the peace. Said scoff echoed off the walls in a way that made the locker room seem oddly...empty, despite Gordon knowing better. It was discomforting. Gordon was used to being alone, especially at work, so it surprised him to find he was so frightened at the prospect of being alone right now. It had to be the situation right? Yeah, yeah that had to be it. Anyone would be afraid to be forced to fight through an apocalyptic hellscape all on their own. Gordon found himself secretly grateful the other members of the science team were with him, even if they weren't exactly "normal" by any stretch of the imagination. That excluded Benrey of course. 

He was already pissed at himself for mentally acknowledging the thing as anything more than that, a thing. He certainly wasn't going to suddenly start acknowledging Benrey as a member of the science team. As far as Gordon was concerned, the guy was just another one of those undead freaks, just a tad more sentient but just as dangerous. While the rest of the science team seemed to trust the guy based on whatever past interactions they had at work, Gordon felt that he was a bit more unbiased in his opinion, as he had never even seen, much less interacted with, him at work. 

"OH SHIT!" An unfortunately familiar voice shouted from outside the locker room door. Great, speaking of Benrey, the hell was that freak up to? Gordon chose to ignore the commotion, deciding that whatever it was, Benrey could probably handle it on his own. After a few moments of unsettling silence, with the exception of the other science team member's muffled arguments, Gordon started to get a bit worried. Not for Benrey of course, but at the idea that one of those things had taken out their guard and could now get in. One thing Gordon had picked up on was that the weird lightning gun or whatever it was Benrey had chosen to use when he saved them was LOUD, so he was sure he would've at least heard that go off by now. Yet, there was nothing. Without really thinking about it, Gordon got up and walked up over to the door, hoping to perhaps get a small peek outside so as to assess the situation. Oh shit he had completely forgotten the doors were automatic, there was no "peeking" through them. The doors swung open as soon as he got close enough, surprising Gordon enough to stumble back a bit. He quickly got over the shock of the doors however once he saw what was happening. Benrey was squatting down next to a body on the ground... A human body. It definitely wasn't one of those creatures, Gordon could tell by the intact skin and lack of bizarre colorful drool. Blood was pooling around the body's head, and it didn't take long for Gordon to see why. There was a... huge gash between the body's neck and shoulder, right where an artery would be. If Gordon didn't know any better, he would've said it looked like a bite from some sort of animal, like something took a bite out of it's prey. Then again, was that really so far-fetched given their circumstances? They WERE caught in a zombie apocalypse of sorts. Perhaps whoever this guy had been was being chased by one of those things and Benrey wasn't able to kill the thing in time? It seemed plausible, but if that were the case, where was the thing's body? And why was Benrey just hovering over the poor guy's body? Gordon stepped into the hallway, the automatic doors silently shutting behind him. 

"Benrey what-" Benrey suddenly lunged forward and... and... oh jesus fucking christ he just took a bite out of the body's neck. "What... WHAT THE HELL?!" Gordon exclaimed, stumbling backwards. He couldn't bring himself to run however, his legs, albeit wobbly, frozen in fear. Benrey snapped his head towards the distressed man. His eyes were wide with surprise, and rust colored blood was smeared around his mouth, mixing with the bright blue drool to create a muddy brown. Such a sight seemed to knock some sense into Gordon. He turned so as to let out a shout to alert the others, when a hand around his mouth kept him from doing so. He was yanked backwards and quickly pinned against a wall, the hand not leaving his mouth somehow. Gordon squirmed against the man's hold to no avail. Shit, did he have some sort of inhuman strength thanks to... Whatever the hell he was clearly infected with? 

"Dude chill, chill bro just uh... stop squirming? Please?" Benrey coaxed. Gordon didn't care of course, if anything he was now struggling harder. "Please calm down? Please?" Benrey continued to coax, his tone becoming surprisingly soft considering the fact that Gordon had just witnessed him bite into a man as if he was a slice of pizza. This wasn't exactly a "please calm down" situation. "Not gonna hurt you, promise, you just uh... caught me at a bad time, had the munchies bro..." Benrey explained. Despite the fact that Gordon clearly wasn't listening, Benrey kept fucking talking. "Guy's gotta eat y'know? He pointed a gun at me so technically it was self defense bro, perfectly justified, couldn't leave his body to attract zombies, if anything you should uh... should be thanking me," He mumbled. Gordon continued his struggle. "C'mon man don't do that, please stop? Pretty please? The others will panic and I don't wanna scare Tommy, if you keep that up I'll have to do the thing, you won't like the thing, it's gross," Gordon tried his best to give the eye contact equivalent of the middle finger. "Fine but uh... don't be pissed okay? It's your fault I gotta do this, oh and uh... no homo..." Before Gordon could even begin to question what the fuck that meant, Benrey uncovered his mouth and roughly pushed his own mouth against his in some sort of semblance of a kiss, getting a loud noise of protest from Gordon. He was overtaken by the overwhelming taste of blueberry before Benrey pulled back. Gordon immediately tried to shout for help, only to find he couldn't find the motivation to. His muscles went slack, and exhaustion filled his senses, Benrey had to practically hold him up in order to keep him from collapsing to the ground. What the hell...? "Oh shit, may have used too much, uh... sorry bro, don't worry I'll uh... clean all this up before you wake up..." Gordon had a hard time making out anything Benrey was saying before everything went to black. 

"Someone owes me five bucks!" 

"Fine, fair is fair, I could've sworn Gordon was past all this passing out nonsense after that confident speech he gave earlier..." 

"Were... Were you assholes betting on if I'd pass out again?" Gordon mumbled as he slowly woke up. 

"Oh! Glad to see you up Mr. Freeman! And if it m-makes you feel any better, I-I didn't bet anything," Tommy smiled. Gordon rolled his eyes but found himself smiling back nonetheless. 

"Thanks Tommy," He sighed. 

"Sunkist did though," Tommy added. Gordon glanced over to see the golden retriever padding towards Bubby, clutching a five dollar bill in his mouth. 

"How...? Ugh, forget it, something tells me I don't want to know," Just as Gordon thought he was getting his bearings, he noticed a certain someone with a blank expression on his face leaning on the back wall. Benrey. Gordon's glare snapped him out of whatever sort of trance he seemed to be in. He shot Gordon a smirk and began to walk towards where the man was lying on one of the locker room benches. 

"Hey, you woke up... uh... about earlier..." 

"Stay the fuck away from me," Gordon growled. 

"Now Gordon, Benrey told us what happened, you have every reason to be mad at him, but at a time like this, we really can't afford to stay mad at each other for too long if we ever hope to get out of here alive," Dr. Coomer placed a hand on Gordon's shoulder in an attempt to calm the man. 

"He told you what happened? Wait, what exactly did he tell you?" Gordon asked, more than a little skeptical. 

"He said he got surprised by something outside and shouted, a-after realizing it was nothing, he went quiet and that's w-when you went to check on him, h-he said you accidentally scared him and he knocked you out without realizing it was you," Tommy explained. So Benrey lied huh? 

"And you guys believed that shit?" 

"Why wouldn't we Mr. Freeman?" 

"So you're telling me the human corpse outside didn't make you question his story? Not even a little?" 

"C-Corpse?" Tommy was understandably taken aback at Gordon's words. 

"Did you guys not look outside?" 

"No, we did but... Gordon, there was no corpse," Bubby replied... Uh, what? 

"What do you mean there was no corpse?" 

"Exactly that Gordon, there was no corpse, Benrey shouted for help and when we went to see what was the matter, we found Benrey trying to carry you back into the locker room," Dr. Coomer explained in further detail. No corpse? How was there no corpse? Could Benrey have hidden it somewhere while he was out? No, even if he had, there was no way he could've moved it without getting blood everywhere, well he supposed he may have been able to, but only if he... Oh... OH. Gordon felt sick at the thought. He glanced up at Benrey, certain his horror was visible to the other man. 

"I uh... Must've hit you pretty hard, sorry bout' that..." He shrugged. If Gordon didn't feel like he was about to pass out again, he might have just tackled that son of a bitch to the ground. "Hey uh... Since Gordo here isn't feeling well, you guys just uh... Wanna sleep here for the night? Well I don't actually know if it's night but uh... But you know what I mean," Benrey suggested. 

""Hell n-" 

"-Brilliant idea Benrey!" Dr. Coomer exclaimed, completely overshadowing Gordon's obvious dismay. 

"Cool cool... I'll uh... Guard you guys," Benrey's tone shifted a little towards something Gordon may have mistaken for sympathy had Gordon not known him for the man eating monster he really was. 

"But don't you need to sleep too Benrey?" Tommy frowned. 

"Nah bro I'll be okay, I'll wake one of you up if I get too tired, just uh... Don't worry bout' me okay? Just uh... Get some sleep okay bro?" Benrey slowly backed up towards those awful automatic doors, keeping his gaze fixated on Gordon the whole way. God he'd strangle him in he could- 

"-Well science team! Let's get to sleep shall we?" Dr. Coomer grinned widely and suddenly went limp, falling onto the floor with a loud thud and landing in perhaps the most uncomfortable position Gordon had ever seen. Gordon was about to get up to make sure the man was okay, when Bubby stopped him. 

"Don't bother, that's just how he likes to sleep," He sighed. Gordon shot the man a look of disbelief, to which Bubby just shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine," He sighed again. 

"Couldn't we at least... I dunno, move him onto one of the benches? There was a bunch of gross zombie guts and shit there not even an hour ago..." Gordon shuddered, the memory of guts and gore mixing with the memory of the sound of bones snapping and that dead look in Benrey's eyes. Oblivious to Gordon's distress, Bubby let out yet another sigh before picking Dr. Coomer up off the floor and setting him on one of the benches in a manner that was, frankly, kind of impressive all things considered. Gordon raised an eyebrow at the man, silently asking him how he did that so flawlessly. Dr. Coomer was practically all muscle, Gordon doubted he was an easy man to lift. 

"What? I'm the ultimate life-form... That and I've had to do this a couple of times..." 

"He randomly passes out often?" 

"Not as much as you but yes, except he does it on purpose and most of the time without warning, we're lucky we got one this time," Bubby explained. He sat himself on the bench next to Dr. Coomer, stretching and trying to get himself into a more comfortable position. Still seemed pretty damn uncomfortable to Gordon, but at least he wasn't in some sort of yoga pose like Dr. Coomer. Gordon glanced past Bubby to see Tommy already fast asleep on a small bench pressed against the wall. He found it endearing that Tommy left more than enough space for Sunkist to squeeze in next to him. The locker room was quiet again, and yet it wasn't nearly as oppressive as before. In fact, it was almost nice enough for Gordon to forget they were being guarded by some sort of monster. He was soon reminded, however, when he turned around on the bench to try and get comfortable. He was met with Benrey, inches in front of him. Gordon would've let out a scream had it not been for Benrey's hand silencing him for the second time that day. Benrey nodded his head towards the other members of the science team. 

"Don't uh... Don't wake the others, they've had a rough day," Gordon searched Benrey's face for traces of sarcasm, surprised to see nothing. He couldn't actually be concerned for them... Could he? "Follow me, we gotta uh... Gotta talk bro," Benrey motioned towards the door before walking towards it, shooting one last expectant look towards Gordon before disappearing through it. Gordon had to take a moment to process what had just happened. Once he finally did, only one thought was making itself known. 

"This fucker's going to kill me..." He quietly mumbled into the nothingness.


	8. Seriously Freeman, Chill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gordon silently wonders if having a heart to heart with a literal dead man walking counted as a seance or if that was restricted to ghosts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I legit don't even know what day it is anymore. Also, my brother now owes me five bucks for having Benrey use the phrase "Cringe nae nae baby."

Gordon took a moment to debate his options. Either he ignored Benrey and went to sleep, or he followed after Benrey and would probably be torn to shreds by the abomination. The choice was more than obvious to Gordon, but who's to say Benrey wouldn't just kill him later if he were to ignore him? It's not like Gordon had anything he could use to defend himself, and Benrey was clearly ten times stronger than him somehow, it's not like killing Gordon would be that difficult for him. Gordon sighed and got up. Might as well get this over with. 

As Gordon passed by the others, he noticed something on the ground by the bench Tommy was currently resting on. It looked like a piece of glass with a cloth wrapped around it, as if someone had shattered a mirror and gathered up one of the shards to use as a weapon. Perhaps Tommy had found it while the others were searching the rest of the locker room? Yeah, that sounded about right. Despite his demeanor, Tommy actually seemed to be one of the more competent members of the science team. It made sense for the man to have considered another means of self defense besides his pistol. 

"Sorry Tommy, I'll bring it back, promise," Gordon quietly mumbled so as not to wake Tommy. He bent down and slowly picked up the shard, careful not to awaken Tommy or his sleeping canine companion. There we go, at least he wasn't going to face Benrey completely unarmed. Gordon carefully hid the makeshift knife on his person, tucking it into a small opening in his HEV that had been a result of the test chamber explosion. He didn't want Benrey to feel threatened and attack him on the off chance that wasn't his plan in the first place, thus concealing the blade seemed like the ideal choice in this situation. Gordon took one last deep breath before exiting the locker room. 

He glanced around the corner to see Benrey leaning up against the wall with a bored look on his face. Gordon could hear the monster humming a faint tune to himself, and he couldn't help but think the amount of colorful drool constantly dripping from the corners of Benrey's mouth had... increased? Benrey had apparently noticed the other man's presence. He glanced over at Gordon with a smirk and proceeded to push himself up off the wall. He opened his mouth as if to say something snarky, but froze. His eyes widened for a split second, and the next thing Gordon knew, he was pinned to the wall yet again. "Dude what the fu-" Aaaand there was Benrey's hand over his mouth again to shut him up. 

"Bro, I should be the one sayin' that, wanna uh... wanna explain what you're doing with this?" Benrey reached behind Gordon and pulled out his makeshift knife, dangling it in front of his face. Well shit. If Benrey wasn't going to kill him before, he definitely was now, and Gordon couldn't even blame him. "You need to chill Gordon, I told you, I'm not gonna hurt you," Benrey rolled his eyes before tucking the knife into his pocket. He took his hand off of Gordon's mouth and released his grip on him, backing up to give the armored man some space. 

"This isn't funny asshole!" Gordon found himself grunting. 

"Uh... what?" 

"Stop messing around and just kill me already! I don't know if you get some sick thrill out of prolonging the inevitable or something but-" 

"-Why would I kill you?" Benrey asked. His tone sounded sincere enough, and anyone with eyes could see the genuine confusion on the man's face, but Gordon still refused to buy it. 

"Seriously? Oh I wonder why Benrey!" Gordon growled sarcastically. 

"Yeah bro, so do I, that's kinda why I asked," It seemed Benrey wasn't giving up on his whole "clueless" act anytime soon. 

"You're a monster! One of those things! I caught you eating a corpse for fucks sake! Honestly I even have reason to believe you're the one who... made that corpse in the first place..." 

"Oh right, that..." 

"Yes Benrey, THAT!" 

"Just didn't think it was that big of a deal..." Gordon couldn't believe what he was hearing. Benrey couldn't actually believe Gordon witnessing him munching on a dead body wasn't a "big deal" could he? He could only hope his obliviousness was just an act, otherwise the alternative... Was frankly pretty creepy. 

"You're kidding right?" 

"Wha...? No bro, I'm funnier than that, it's like I said though, a guy's gotta uh... guy's gotta eat, and it's not like I killed a good guy, dude was pretty shady," Benrey explained. 

"Shady? Shady how? Oh and I swear to god if you say some shit like he didn't have his passport I'll-" 

"-He was gonna kill you guys..." 

"...Excuse me?" 

"Well not uh... Not right away but um... Eventually... He was infected with that zombie gas or whatever but he hadn't turned yet, he was gonna... Gonna ask for help from you guys but..." 

"...But you could sense he was already too far gone?" 

"He probably would've passed out the moment he walked through the door and uh... We know what happens to an infected person when they wake up from that..." Benrey trailed off, some sort of unidentifiable emotion flashing across his features for a split second. This gave Gordon pause. Could Benrey be telling the truth? Gordon didn't sense any deceit from him, but then again, it's not like he knew the guy well enough to make a completely accurate guess on how truthful he was being. 

"So you're... Not planning on eating me?" Gordon finally asked. 

"Nah man... I mean, not unless you want me to," Benrey shrugged with a grin. This got him yet another of Gordon Freeman's signature middle fingers in glare form. "Kidding! I'm just kidding bro! Learn to take uh... Learn to take a joke," Benrey chuckled. 

"Okay then... If you weren't planning on luring me into the hall to kill me, what were you planning?" 

"Wasn't planning nothing, s'like I said, just wanna talk for a bit, figured I freaked you out earlier and I didn't want you blabbing about it and scaring Tommy or the others," Benrey sighed. "I'll just come out and say it, somethin' is uh... Somethin' is clearly wrong with me-" 

"-Yeah no shit!" 

"Shut the fuck- Ugh, just... Be quiet for a moment? Please? Kinda trying to explain some stuff to you?" Gordon rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, nodding towards Benrey as if to coax him into continuing. 

"Thanks, anyway, what was I saying? Oh yeah, shit's fucked with me and I don't know why, can't do half of what I used to! Gotta walk everywhere, stuck at one size, it's so damn cringe! Plus I gotta..." Benrey quickly stopped himself, glancing back and forth from Gordon and the floor, as if debating whether or not he should continue. Now, Gordon had barely been following what Benrey had been saying in the first place. Was he saying he had some other means of getting around the place than walking before? The hell did he mean by "stuck at one size?" All Gordon could really comprehend was that Benrey was just as confused as Gordon was regarding his current uh... State. That sure would explain a lot. Gordon nodded again in the hopes that Benrey would continue, but it seemed Benrey was still dealing with some sort of inner turmoil. "Okay so like... Um.... Don't freak out but I think I gotta uh... Feed regularly..." He explained. Feed? What did he... Oh. "Yeah... When I woke up there was actually a few scientists who hadn't turned yet and I... Couldn't uh... I couldn't..." 

"Couldn't stop yourself?" Gordon finished his sentence for him. Benrey nodded, refusing to meet Gordon's gaze again. 

"Snapped out of it after a bit and stole that cool lighting gun off a guy, but I think if I go too long without eating I sorta... Lose it," Benrey finished his explanation. At least Gordon was getting some validation for his fear of Benrey, turns out the guy was more dangerous than he thought. His fear must've shown on his face if Benrey's heavy sigh and accompanying frown was anything to go by. "Look I'd never hurt you or any of the guys on purpose, supposed to protect you guys, got my uh... My munchies under control, you don't gotta worry," Benrey's frown grew deeper with each word. 

"What are we supposed to do the next time you get peckish then? Huh?" Gordon sneered. Benrey seemed to genuinely consider his options for a moment before nodding to himself. 

"You could help me out?" He suggested. Gordon physically recoiled at said suggestion. 

"I thought we just established you weren't going to eat me!" 

"Nah... I don't mean like that, pretty sure eating other zombies is an option for me too, ones that aren't too uh... Melty or whatever, I got standards," Benrey corrected. 

"Uh-huh, I'm sure, so what are you suggesting I do?" 

"I dunno, just uh... Save an arm or two for your ol' pal Benrey the next time you fight a hoard?" Benrey shrugged. 

"Gross but... I guess it's doable, might save Sunkist the trouble of clearing out bodies, fine, I'll tell the others to keep an eye out for-" 

"-NO!" Gordon nearly tripped over his own feet at the sudden maliciousness in Benrey's voice. It was as if he had become a completely different person for a moment. Noticing the fear in Gordon's eyes, Benrey cleared his throat before speaking again. "I mean uh... No, can't tell the guys..." 

"Why not?" Gordon hated the trembling in his own voice. 

"Told you, don't want to scare them, Bubs will just see me as a threat, Tommy will end up trying to cure me even if it's at his expense, and Coomer..." Was that fear in his eyes? Suppose Gordon couldn't judge too harshly. Dr. Coomer, despite being a very friendly person for the most part, was a powerhouse of a man. 

"Alright fine we won't tell the rest of the science team, look, I still don't trust you, at all, but you seem to be just as freaked as I am when it comes to your whole..." Gordon made a vague hand gesture towards Benrey. 

"Sorta dead thing... So I'm willing to help, but you better not make me regret this, or get in my way, I have a kid at home to get back to y'know," Gordon growled. He hated to admit that he felt some sort of pity for Benrey. If what he said was true, then that just made him another victim to this whole contained apocalypse bullshit. Gordon couldn't even imagine how hard this was for the other man. His moment of sentiment towards the dead-ish guard was completely shattered by Benrey laughing to himself. 

"Heh, got a little mini Gordon at home? Gordon Littleman? Cringe nae nae baby?" He chuckled. Gordon chose to actually flip him off this time, to which Benrey's smirk just grew wider. 

"Shut up dude, before I go back, do you want me to switch places with you? I could probably guard the entrance for the rest of night if you're starting to get tired," Gordon figured he'd offer as a sort of peace offering, that and if he was being honest, he kinda wanted to hold Benrey's badass lightning gun, not that he'd ever admit that to Benrey. That would probably just end up with him somehow becoming more obnoxious than he already was. 

"Sorry bro, you can't hold my uh... Hyper passport here," Benrey motioned towards his gun. Shit, he knew. Wait did he just name his gun- "-Just get some sleep okay? I don't get tired," Benrey shrugged. 

"Yeah whatever man, everyone gets tired," Gordon rolled his eyes and began to walk back into the locker room. 

"Yeah, everyone who's human, wasn't uh... Wasn't quite human before the infection either," Benrey stated nonchalantly despite the concerning content of his statement. 

"Okay what the FUCK does that mean?!" Gordon whipped his head around to face the other man again, only to find Benrey much closer than he previously remembered him being. 

"Seriously dude, go to bed, you don't wanna have me do the thing again," He frowned. The thing? What was the thing? Oh right... Gordon turned back around and quickly ran back into the locker room, scarring memories resurfacing all too quickly. He heard a muffled "Thought so" from the other side of the door during his escape. Gordon raced back to his bench and plopped down onto it, wincing at the loud creaking noise it made. Thankfully it didn't look like it had even bothered the other sleeping scientists and mega pooch. Gordon stared up at the fluorescent light covered ceiling above him, feeling as if he had just made a deal with the devil.


	9. Don't Worry Mr. Freeman!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy go off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I say this every single time I update but WOW time is such an abstract concept, especially when the universe decides everything has to happen to you all at once. Long story short, I really let time get away from me, and I apologize for that.

"Ah-ha! Looks like another win for Doctor Harold Coomer!" A loud enthusiastic voice cheered. 

"Don't think you're hot shit just yet, I seem to recall kicking your ass earlier!" Another voice scoffed in response. 

"Ah yes, I do seem to recall that happening... Six rounds ago..." 

"Oh shut up and get ready for another round!" 

"I've been ready for awhile now, it's you that's holding us up... Professor." 

"Okay that's it!" The angrier of the two voices shouted, their sentence being punctuated with a bang loud enough to jolt Gordon awake. He sat up and frantically glanced around the locker room with fear in his eyes. Fortunately it didn't last long. To his right was the aftermath of what looked to be an arm wrestling contest between Bubby and Dr. Coomer. Bubby had been sent flying by Dr. Coomer in what Gordon could only hope was an accident. He had banged his head on another bench and seemed hardly effected by what must've been quite the impact based on what Gordon had heard. Adrenaline maybe? Who knew at this point? 

"Six to one my good man," Dr. Coomer grinned at the hopefully not concussed scientist. 

"I can still make a comeback..." Bubby growled through gritted teeth. He walked back over to Dr. Coomer and went right back to arm wrestling the other man, both blissfully unaware of Gordon who just observed in quiet disbelief. Who the hell would arm wrestle Dr. Coomer voluntarily? More than that, who would have the ability to hold up for longer than thirty seconds against the somehow impossibly jacked man? And to think, Gordon had shrugged off Bubby's claims of being "the ultimate life form" or whatever the hell he had said. He hated that he possibly had to rethink that now. 

Rather than ponder the almost inhuman nature of either of the older men in their team, Gordon chose to push his thoughts to the back of some dusty corner of his mind and flop back down onto the bench he had been previously snoozing on. 

"I get we're surrounded by living corpses and are stuck in literal hell or whatever, but would it hurt to ask for a normal wake-up call? Just one? Maybe even a simple good morning?" Gordon mumbled to no one in particular. 

"Good morning Mr. Freeman!" A voice greeted from his left. Damn, had Gordon known his sarcastic quips had that much power, he would've asked for something better, like a way out of this nightmare. 

"Morning Tommy," Gordon breathed out a sigh and sent a halfhearted wave towards the voice, immediately recognizing the brightly colored propeller hat out of the corner of his eye. 

"H-How did you sleep?" He asked in a civil manner. Gordon would be lying if he had said he didn't secretly appreciate Tommy's best attempt at striking up a casual conversation despite the fact that they were pretty much trapped in the single worst apocalypse movie of all time. It was almost refreshing, and it was certainly helping Gordon maintain some level of sanity. 

"Like shit actually, this suit makes it pretty hard to get comfortable," Gordon shrugged, choosing the honest route. 

"Right... I could maybe help you get it off, I-I don't have a lot of knowledge on HEV suits but-" 

"-Nah that's okay Tommy, I suspect the suit is too dented at this point to get off through any normal means, and anyway I think it might be what's keeping me from... Y'know... I'd rather not take the risk," Gordon explained. Tommy had a small frown on his face for a split second, but he seemed to understand as the frown didn't last too long. "What about you? I'm sure you at least had better luck than me when it came to sleep." 

"O-Oh, yeah, I've slept in some pretty weird places before, so it w-wasn't that big of a deal for me, plus I had S-Sunkist to keep me warm!" Sunkist padded over to his owner upon hearing his name being called, sniffing at Tommy's hand and wagging his tail. Tommy gave Sunkist a quick appreciative pat, before freezing up completely. The change in demeanor was sudden enough to cause quite a bit of worry on Gordon's end. 

"Um... Something wrong?" Tommy didn't respond. He nervously glanced between the floor and the bench he had been sleeping on with his canine companion before reaching into his pants pockets. His panic seemed to grow as he moved on to his lab coat, searching for something and apparently not having any luck in finding it. "Did you lose something Tommy?" Still no response, more frantic searching. Finally Gordon got up and tightly gripped Tommy's shoulders in an attempt to get the other man's attention. "Hey man, calm down for a second, take a deep breath, now, what are you looking for?" Gordon soothed in a tone he hoped was somewhat comforting. The only other person he had ever successfully comforted was his son, and while his methods normally worked wonders for a child, he wasn't sure how it would translate when it came to comforting a fully grown man having a miniature panic attack. Gordon breathed out a small sigh of relief upon noticing Tommy had ceased shaking and was now taking deep breaths. He still seemed a bit pale, and Gordon wasn't blind to the remaining fragments of panic in the other man's eyes, but at the very least, the man was calmer than before. 

"S-Sorry Mr. Freeman, I-It's j-just... I made a weapon last night out of s-some glass I found to protect myself from those creatures b-but..." Tommy trailed off. 

"It went missing?" 

"Y-Yeah! I completely forgot I even made it until Sunkist reminded me..." Gordon wasn't really sure how Sunkist sniffing his hand had reminded him of a makeshift knife, but sure. Regardless, Gordon suddenly felt incredibly guilty for borrowing Tommy's knife last night, especially since he had gotten it taken by Benrey of all people. Gordon couldn't blame the guy for panicking like that, he'd probably do the same if he had woken up and noticed one of his only means of defending himself had just up and vanished. Maybe he could talk to Benrey and convince the guy to give it back? No, he doubted the guy trusted him enough to hand him back the weapon he thought he was going to kill him with, weird zombie deal or otherwise. Maybe if he mentioned it was originally Tommy's? Yeah, that might work. After all, Benrey seemed to be pretty good friends with the propeller cap wearing man. 

"Well I'm sure it didn't just vanish into thin air, it'll turn up, hey, maybe Benrey picked it up thinking it would be safer with him?" Gordon was trying desperately to connect the blade back to Benrey so that Tommy wouldn't ask too many questions in the event he could convince Benrey to hand back the blade to it's rightful owner. 

"Maybe... I'd ask him but he's not here right now," Tommy sighed. 

"Not HERE here technically, but he's just outside the door, I'm sure he wouldn't mind you popping outside to ask him." 

"Ah, no Mr. Freeman, I mean Benrey's n-not here at all, he left his post after everyone, but you, woke up," Tommy clarified. 

"Wait wait wait... That asshole left us here?! Completely defenseless?!" Gordon slammed his hand onto the bench in a small fit of anger. It wasn't enough to distract Bubby or Dr. Coomer from their arm wrestling match, but was apparently enough to make both Tommy and Sunkist flinch. 

"No! Y-You've got the wrong idea Mr. Freeman! He didn't leave us defenseless! In f-fact, he left this with me!" Tommy walked over to an unusually large locker that sat by his claimed bench, opening it up and pulling out Benrey's weird electric gun tragically named "Passport." The very same gun Benrey didn't trust him with. 

"What the hell?! Why would he give that to you?! I mean, no offense Tommy, but do you even know how to use that thing?!" Gordon was silently freaking out. Okay well no, not silently, his inner thoughts were being just as loud as his current outer ones. 

"Of course I do Mr. Freeman! I-I've read all about this device, it's s-standard issue here at Black Mesa, and completely within regulations too!" Tommy grinned. Gordon was mentally calling bullshit on that. 

"...Well in that case, mind if I hold it?" Gordon hadn't quite gotten over the temptation of holding such a badass looking weapon. Tommy shook his head immediately at Gordon's suggestion. 

"Nope! Sorry Mr. Freeman, but Benrey told me specifically not to let 'you know who' touch it, I-I don't actually know who he meant and when I asked he kinda just mumbled 'epic' under his breath and disappeared, s-so I figured I better just not let anyone touch it," Tommy shrugged. Damn it. Well at least the kid was responsible, that meant Gordon could probably let Tommy lead the gang for a bit should he ever have to separate from the others for whatever reason... Wow, he hoped he hadn't just jinxed his future self with that line of thinking. 

"So... What? You're just going to guard the entrance in Benrey's place until he comes back?" 

"That's the plan, there's no need to worry Mr. Freeman, if things go wrong somehow, I-I'll have Sunkist by my side to help me out," Tommy flashed a bright, reassuring smile, and for a brief moment that Gordon would later think back on as probably one of the weirdest moments in his life, it almost looked like Sunkist was smiling as well. 

"Right, just uh... Be careful out there okay? If things really do get too rough, try and retreat, if that's not possible, make sure to send Sunkist to get us okay?" Tommy was a fantastic shot. Gordon was fully aware of this fact by now, thus it was logical to believe that Tommy could probably handle himself if he really got into a bind. However, that knowledge didn't seem to clear the worry filled lump in Gordon's throat any. Even as Tommy shot him another confident smile, and an even more confident, 

"You got it Mr. Freeman!" As he made his way outside the locker room, a deep sense of dread was continuing to burrow it's way into Gordon's chest. 

"Oh, Hello Gordon!" Dr. Coomer greeted, finally noticing the man was awake. Unfortunately for him, Bubby took advantage of what little guard Dr. Coomer had lowered, quickly pinning his hand and letting out a cry of victory. "Hey! That was hardly fair! I was trying to greet Gordon!" Dr. Coomer frowned. 

"HA! Fair? Now when have either of us ever been known to play fair?" Bubby smirked, propping his elbow back onto the bench, attempting to initiate yet another round. 

"Heh, fair enough," Dr. Coomer chuckled darkly, a competitive fire suddenly bursting to life behind his eyes. Aaaaand there they go again, completely ignoring Gordon in favor of their bizarre competition. Gordon supposed it didn't matter, so long as they didn't cause each other any permanent damage, besides, he had bigger things to worry about. 

Gordon raced towards the locker room entrance, hoping to prove to his adrenaline filled heart that they had nothing to worry about, and that Tommy was and will be just fine. What Gordon actually got was much more unexpected and much worse for his poor heart. Ten, maybe twelve, creatures had gathered around the door in a strange semi-circle, slowly closing in on Tommy, Sunkist, and now Gordon who had idiotically thrown himself into the mix with not a single thing to fight back with. Before Gordon's brain could go full panic mode however, a loud static filled noise flooded the halls and diverted his attention to Tommy, who had just shot a large ball of electricity at one of the zombies. After landing a perfect head shot and absolutely obliterating the disgusting creature, the same ball bounced back and hit a different zombie, then another, and another, and another, until the ball finally petered out into a few measly sparks midair. By then, each and every last zombie had been completely annihilated by the deadly combo of Tommy's marksmanship and the almighty destructive power of the "Passport." The most jaw-dropping thing? How Tommy stood there so nonchalantly, as if he hadn't just pulled off the coolest damn trick shot Gordon had ever seen in his entire life. Before Gordon could regain his voice to commend Tommy on said badassery, someone spoke up for him. 

"Yoooooo fuck Dude Perfect my dude, that was cool as hell," An awful voice chuckled.


	10. Yo Freeman! Catch!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gordon gets a gun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I let time slip away from me again... Sorry. Time is dumb though. Total scam.

Gordon had yet to recover from his daze. The shock of witnessing so many of those things closing in on him earlier, combined with the adrenaline rush he received after witnessing what could only be described as "Tommy's epic trick shot" had seriously knocked him for a loop. He had crumbled to his knees onto the cold, unforgiving floor and was currently staring straight ahead with a glazed look in his eyes. He was, for the most part, tuning out the excited chatter happening not too far from him. Unfortunately Benrey's voice just seemed to have a way of clawing through Gordon's eardrums and into his skull whether he liked it or not. 

"Yo Tommy, I'm serious, that was niiiiiice!" Gordon could physically hear the smirk Benrey was more than likely sporting. 

"Thanks! I-It's all instinct!" 

"Fuck yeah bro!" Gordon heard a smack noise that, given the context of their conversation, was probably a high-five. Something about Benrey's overly casual behavior was beginning to set Gordon off. Where the hell had the guy been all this time anyway? Why had he left them to their own devices? Well no, Gordon supposed Benrey had hoisted guard duty onto Tommy who had proven himself more than capable. Regardless, the possibility of something overpowering the crack shot scientist and getting to the rest of them wasn't exactly zero. Benrey could have put them in serious danger and yet here he was casually chatting it up with Tommy. If it weren't for his steadily recovering heart, he might have found himself snapping at the practically dead man. "So uh... What's with uh... Gordon Dazedman over there?" Okay nevermind, his heart rate was good enough. Gordon got up from the floor and stomped over to Benrey. He pushed past Tommy, gently of course, he was pissed, not an asshole, and got up in Benrey's face, clenching his teeth and balling up his fists. The lack of flinching on Benrey's part was somehow causing Gordon's anger levels to rise. 

"Where the HELL have you been?!" He exclaimed through gritted teeth. Benrey had, surprise surprise, a dazed look in his eyes, as if he wasn't even listening to Gordon. 

"...Wha?" 

"DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH ME ASSHOLE!" Gordon gripped the front of Benrey's shirt collar, the other man's dangerous nature temporarily forgotten as a result of Gordon's blind fury. 

"M-Mr. Freeman! C-Calm down!" Tommy's concerned shouts went unheard. Benrey's bizarre demeanor hadn't changed at all, in fact he seemed more out of it than before Gordon grabbed him. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, only to shut it again, perhaps forgetting what it was he was going to say. Gordon took pity on the man and let him go, his glare remaining. This, somehow, seemed to snap him out of whatever sort of spell he was under. 

"Oh, right... I went to find... Went to find weapons," Benrey shrugged. 

"Weapons?" 

"Yeah! Catch!" Benrey pulled a gun from... Somewhere and tossed it towards Gordon. He caught it, but there was admittedly quite a bit of panic involved. Gordon turned the gun over in his hand, examining it closely. It was similar to the pistol Bubby had given him not long ago, however this one seemed more... Used. While the gun Bubby had handed him seemed pristine for the most part, probably because it was only to be used in emergencies, the one Benrey had just tossed him had clearly shot more than a round or two in it's life. This led Gordon to wonder... Where exactly had Benrey gotten this gun from? Gordon jumped upon hearing the sound of a gun cocking from behind him. He turned and was... Mostly relieved to see that it was just Tommy, inspecting a gun Benrey must've handed him while Gordon was lost in thought. "Got something lightweight for you Tommy, figured uh... Figured you can aim, it'd help if you could do it quicker..." Benrey grinned. Gordon knew it made sense, but he found it odd that, not only was Benrey able to find them weapons, but he was able to find them SPECIFIC weapons. 

"T-Thanks Benrey!" Tommy smiled, pointing his pistol at Benrey's forehead, as per usual. Benrey didn't flinch, but instead gave the man a smirk in return. 

"No problem bro," He nodded. 

"Oh! Speaking of weapons! B-Benrey? Did you pick up a glass shard last night?" Tommy asked. 

"Uh... Glass shard? Why?" 

"I-I made a knife out of one yesterday and it went m-missing! Mr. Freeman thought you might've p-picked it up by mistake!" Tommy explain. Benrey glanced at Gordon, making eye contact with the man in a gesture Gordon could only hope meant he understood that the glass shard Tommy was referring to and the one Gordon had threatened him with were one and the same. Gordon's prayers were answered when Benrey pulled the glass shard from his pocket and handed it over to Tommy. 

"Yeah, my bad Tommy, saw it and didn't uh... Didn't want anyone getting... Stabby stabby slicey dicey y'know?" Benrey shrugged. Tommy gladly took the shard from Benrey. 

"Thanks Benrey, I-I understand! I should probably give you back this too!" Tommy's smile grew wider as he traded Benrey his "Passport." "I'm gonna tell Dr. Coomer and Dr. Bubby you're back, they'll f-feel better knowing our guard i-is back!" Tommy quickly ran into the locker room, leaving Benrey and Gordon to their own devices. After a beat of silence, Gordon finally decided to speak his mind. 

"So... Where'd you get the guns from?" 

"Hm?" 

"C'mon man, don't pull that oblivious act on me, I know you heard me!" 

"Kinda... Kinda rude of you Gordon, assuming things n' shit, maybe I didn't hear you, then what? Hm?" 

"Stop trying to change the subject Benrey, just tell me where you got-" 

"-Grip..." 

"What?" 

"Look closer at the grip, like... Real close..." Gordon rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed huff, but complied nonetheless. He'd do it if it meant getting an answer out of the evasive man. He adjusted his hold on the pistol so as to get a better look at the grip, a chill running down his spine upon noticing a bloody fingerprint his hand had previously been covering. His own hands were clean, so that meant... "Still wanna know where I got that gun?" 

"Um... Yeah no nevermind thanks," Benrey chuckled upon hearing an audible gulp from the armored man. 

"Yeah I figured..." He trailed off. Gordon didn't need Benrey's explanation, he was smart enough to put two and two together on his own thank you very much. Still, that didn't make the truth any less disturbing. 

"Fuck man..." Gordon sighed. 

"Hey dude, don't uh... Don't judge, I got a snack and some sick guns, what'd you get from takin' Tommy's glass thingy?" 

"Hey! I thought I was going to become a snack! I needed something to protect myself with!" Gordon argued. 

"Can't uh... Become what you already are bro," Benrey shrugged. Fucking what? 

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" 

"What the fuck is wrong with YOU? You're the one who keeps... Keeps thinkin' I'm gonna eat you, I already told you I wouldn't since we got that deal or whatever, I almost think you uh... Want me to eat you," Benrey chuckled yet again. 

"Yeah, hell no!" 

"Whatever you say Gore-don Freakman..." Gordon rolled his eyes and turned to walk back into the locker room, when a surprisingly tight grip on his wrist stopped him in his tracks. He turned to see Benrey glaring up at him with a disturbingly serious look on his face. 

"Uh... What's up?" Gordon asked. 

"We gotta leave..." Benrey mumbled. 

"What...?" 

"The Science Team I mean, we uh... We need to leave the locker room soon, real soon," Benrey explained further. The sudden shift in the almost but not quite dead man's mood had started to both confuse and unsettle Gordon. 

"I know it's not exactly the safest place, and I agree we need to find a better place to wait out the military, but why the urgency?" He asked. Benrey glanced down at the floor, then at the wall, then at the other wall, then back to the floor, and so forth, refusing to meet Gordon's gaze. 

"We just... Uh... We just gotta go, I got Bubs and Coomer weapons too so we're good on that front..." Benrey sounded as if he were trying to carefully tiptoe around Gordon's question. Gordon wasn't planning on letting him. 

"Okay but why?" Gordon reiterated, stressing the "why." Benrey went silent, his eyes seeming to finally settle on staring down at the floor. 

"Just uh... Just trust me bro... Please?" 

"No offense, but you haven't exactly done much to earn my trust..." 

"Bro, I guard you from gross drippy zombies and bring you guns on a silver platter and you still don't trust me?" 

"You ate an almost zombie and then proceeded to eat some other guys and mug them of their weapons in the process, see why there's a lack of trust on my end?" 

"I told you, if I don't eat, this weird zombie shit takes over, it's not like I asked for this okay? I'm tryin'... Tryin' my best here man..." Benrey let out a defeated sigh. Gordon could see what almost looked like exasperation on the man's normally expressionless face. Gordon hated the guilt that decided to pierce it's way through his chest. He knew Benrey hadn't asked to be turned into some sort of half dead freak, and that it was kind of unfair of him to distrust the other man over something he had no control over. Then again, there were plenty of other reasons to distrust him as well, what with his constant evasiveness and cryptic responses, but maybe that was just a part of what made Benrey... Well, Benrey. Other than when it came to matters concerning his zombification, Benrey didn't act any different around the rest of The Science Team than he did around Gordon, and they'd all known him for much longer than he had. They didn't seem to notice anything off about him other than his appearance so... Was Gordon in the wrong? 

"Damn you Gordon Freeman for being a good person," Gordon angrily mumbled to himself. 

"Uh what?" 

"Oh uh... Nothing, look, I'll trust you for now and not ask too many questions since I agree on some level that we should really get moving, but know that this doesn't mean I trust you completely, hell I barely know you!" Gordon conceded. That fang-filled grin of Benrey's wasn't exactly doing him any favors either. He walked past Gordon, mumbling quietly. 

"Guess we'll have to change that then hm?" He proceeded to enter the locker room with a confused Gordon at his heels after a short pause. 

"The hell do you mean by- Oh what the fuck?" Gordon groaned at the sight that greeted him as he stepped back into the locker room behind Benrey. Every bench, with the exception of the one Sunkist was perched on top of, was either cracked in half or... scorched? Tommy was sitting next to Sunkist, gently petting the golden retriever as if everything was fine, as if Bubby wasn't currently trying to stomp out what looked like another bench fire. Dr. Coomer, meanwhile, was lying limp among the smithereens of one of the benches, seeming to take glee in watching Bubby's struggle. Upon hearing Benrey and Gordon enter, Dr. Coomer's head snapped, in a sudden and almost disturbing manner, towards the two, a smile adorning his expression. 

"Ah! Hello Gordon!"


End file.
